Electronic device

ABSTRACT

An electronic device includes a sensor layer including a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes, a sensor driving circuit driving the sensor layer and operating in a first or second mode, and a main driving circuit controlling an operation of the sensor driving circuit. In the first mode, the sensor driving circuit outputs a plurality of first transmit signals to the plurality of first electrodes respectively, receives a plurality of first sensing signals from the plurality of second electrodes respectively, and outputs the plurality of first sensing signals to the main driving circuit. In the second mode, the sensor driving circuit outputs a plurality of second transmit signals to the plurality of first electrodes respectively, receives a plurality of second sensing signals from the plurality of second electrodes respectively, and provides the main driving circuit with a coordinate based on the plurality of second sensing signals.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Applications No. 10-2022-0011028 filed onJan. 25, 2022, and No. 10-2022-0048045 filed on Apr. 19, 2022, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which areincorporated by reference in their entireties herein.

1. Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure described herein relate to anelectronic device with a proximity sensing function.

2. Discussion of Related Art

Multimedia electronic devices such as a television, a mobile phone, atablet computer, a navigation system, and a game console may displayimages, and support a touch-based input scheme, which allows a user toenter information or a command intuitively, conveniently, and easily.For example, in addition to typical input devices such as a button, akeyboard, and a mouse, the touch-based input scheme enables users toprovide inputs with a finger, a stylus, or an electronic pen.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electronic deviceincluding a sensor layer with a proximity sensing function.

According to an embodiment, an electronic device includes a displaylayer that displays an image, a display driving circuit that drives thedisplay layer, a sensor layer that is disposed on the display layer andincludes a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of secondelectrodes, a sensor driving circuit that drives the sensor layer andselectively operates in a first mode or a second mode different from thefirst mode, and a main driving circuit that controls an operation of thedisplay driving circuit and an operation of the sensor driving circuit.In the first mode, the sensor driving circuit outputs a plurality offirst transmit signals to the plurality of first electrodesrespectively, receives a plurality of first sensing signals from theplurality of second electrodes respectively, and outputs the pluralityof first sensing signals to the main driving circuit. In the secondmode, the sensor driving circuit outputs a plurality of second transmitsignals to the plurality of first electrodes respectively, receives aplurality of second sensing signals from the plurality of secondelectrodes respectively, and provides the main driving circuit with acoordinate obtained based on the plurality of second sensing signals.The plurality of first transmit signals may be simultaneously output tothe plurality of first electrodes.

The plurality of first transmit signals may be in phase with oneanother.

A driving voltage of the plurality of first transmit signals may beequal to a driving voltage of the plurality of second transmit signals.

A first phase of one second transmit signal of the plurality of secondtransmit signals may be different from a second phase of remainingsecond transmit signals of the plurality of second transmit signals.

The first mode may include a first sub mode and a second sub mode. Inthe first sub mode, the sensor driving circuit may output the pluralityof first sensing signals to the main driving circuit. In the second submode, the sensor driving circuit may output a plurality of thirdtransmit signals to the plurality of first electrodes respectively, mayreceive a plurality of third sensing signals from the plurality ofsecond electrodes respectively, and may provide the main driving unitwith a proximity coordinate obtained based on the plurality of thirdsensing signals.

A length of an operating period in the first sub mode may be longer thana length of an operating period in the second sub mode.

A frequency of each of the plurality of third transmit signals may behigher than a frequency of each of the plurality of first transmitsignals.

The sensor driving circuit may operate in the first sub mode and maythen continue to operate in the second sub mode or operates in thesecond sub mode and then continues to operate in the first sub mode.

The main driving circuit may include a noise model that is trained topredict a noise included in the plurality of first sensing signals, anda decision model that determines whether an object approaches, based onthe noise predicted by the noise model and the plurality of firstsensing signals.

The noise model may include a plurality of noise prediction models thatrespectively output a plurality of noise prediction values, and aselector that selects one of the plurality of noise prediction values.

Each of the plurality of noise prediction models may include a movingwindow that receives the plurality of first sensing signals of each of aplurality of frames, a moving averaging unit that calculates a movingaverage of the plurality of first sensing signals of each of theplurality of frames and outputs an intermediate signal, and a noisepredictor that outputs a noise prediction value by using theintermediate signal and a trained algorithm.

The display layer may include a base layer, a circuit layer disposed onthe base layer, a light emitting device layer disposed on the circuitlayer, and an encapsulation layer disposed on the light emitting devicelayer, and the sensor layer may be directly disposed on the displaylayer.

According to an embodiment, an electronic device includes a sensor layerthat includes a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of secondelectrodes, a sensor driving unit that drives the sensor layer andselectively operates in a proximity sensing mode or a touch sensingmode, and a main driving circuit that controls an operation of thesensor driving circuit. In the proximity sensing mode, the sensordriving circuit outputs all of a plurality of first sensing signalsreceived from the plurality of second electrodes to the main drivingcircuit. In the touch sensing mode, the sensor driving circuitcalculates input coordinates based on a plurality of second sensingsignals received from the plurality of second electrodes and outputs acoordinate signal including information about the input coordinates tothe main driving circuit.

The main driving circuit includes a noise model that is trained topredict a noise included in the plurality of first sensing signals, anda decision model that determines whether an object approaches, based onthe noise predicted by the noise model and the plurality of firstsensing signals.

In the proximity sensing mode, the sensor driving circuit maysimultaneously output a plurality of first transmit signals to theplurality of first electrodes respectively and may receive the pluralityof first sensing signals from the plurality of second electrodesrespectively, and the plurality of first transmit signals may be inphase.

In the touch sensing mode, the sensor driving circuit may simultaneouslyoutput a plurality of second transmit signals to the plurality of firstelectrodes respectively and may receive the plurality of second sensingsignals from the plurality of second electrodes respectively, and afirst phase of one second transmit signal of the plurality of secondtransmit signals may be different from a second phase of the remainingsecond transmit signals.

A driving voltage of the plurality of first transmit signals may beequal to a driving voltage of the plurality of second transmit signals.

The sensor driving circuit may selectively operate in one of theproximity sensing mode, the touch sensing mode, or a proximitycoordinate sensing mode, and the sensor driving circuit may operate inthe proximity sensing mode and may then continue to operate in theproximity coordinate sensing mode or operates in the proximitycoordinate sensing mode and then continues to operate in the proximitysensing mode.

In the proximity coordinate sensing mode, the sensor driving circuit mayoutput a plurality of third transmit signals to the plurality of firstelectrodes respectively, may receive a plurality of third sensingsignals from the plurality of second electrodes respectively, and mayprovide the main driving circuit with a proximity coordinate signalobtained based on the plurality of third sensing signals.

A length of an operating period in the proximity sensing mode may belonger than a length of an operating period in the proximity coordinatesensing mode, and a frequency of each of the plurality of third transmitsignals may be higher than a frequency of each of the plurality of firsttransmit signals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The above and other objects and features of the present disclosure willbecome apparent by describing in detail embodiments thereof withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram describing an operation of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic device,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a display layer and a displaydriving unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a sensor layer and a sensor driving unitaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an operation of a sensor layeraccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating first transmit signals according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a main driving unit according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a noise prediction modelaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10A illustrates a waveform of a signal provided as raw data.

FIG. 10B illustrates a waveform of a signal whose noise is removed by anoise prediction model.

FIG. 10C illustrates a waveform of a signal decided by a decision model.

FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating an operation of a sensor layeraccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating second transmit signals according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a sensor layer and a sensordriving unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating sub modes included in a first modeaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating sub modes included in a first modeaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating an operation of a sensor layeraccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14B illustrates third transmit signals according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the specification, the expression that a first component (or area,layer, part, portion, etc.) is “on”, “connected with”, or “coupled to” asecond component means that the first component is directly on,connected with, or coupled to the second component or means that a thirdcomponent is disposed therebetween.

Like reference numerals refer to like components. It is to be understoodthat in the drawings, the relative thicknesses, proportions, angles, anddimensions of components are intended to be drawn to scale for at leastone embodiment of the present disclosure, however, changes may be madeto these characteristics within the scope of the present disclosure andthe present inventive concept is not necessarily limited to theproperties shown. The expression “and/or” includes one or morecombinations which associated components are capable of defining.

Although the terms “first”, “second”, etc. may be used to describevarious components, the components should not be construed as beinglimited by the terms. The terms are only used to distinguish onecomponent from another component. For example, without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the invention, a first component may be referredto as a “second component”, and similarly, the second component may bereferred to as the “first component”. The singular forms are intended toinclude the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Also, the terms “under”, “below”, “on”, “above”, etc. are used todescribe the correlation of components illustrated in drawings. Theterms that are relative in concept are described based on a directionshown in drawings.

It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “includes”,“have”, etc. specify the presence of stated features, numbers, steps,operations, elements, components, or a combination thereof but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,numbers, steps, operations, elements, components, or a combinationthereof.

The terms “part” and “unit” mean a software component or a hardwarecomponent that performs a specific function. The hardware component mayinclude, for example, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The software componentmay refer to executable code and/or data used by executable code in anaddressable storage medium. Thus, software components may be, forexample, object-oriented software components, class components, andworking components, and may include processes, functions, properties,procedures, subroutines, program code segments, drivers, firmwares,micro-codes, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arraysor variables.

Below, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described withreference to accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an electronic device 1000according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the electronic device 1000 may be a device that isactivated depending on an electrical signal. For example, the electronicdevice 1000 may include a mobile phone, a foldable mobile phone, anotebook, a television, a tablet, a car navigation system, a gameconsole, or a wearable device, but the present disclosure is not limitedthereto. An example in which the electronic device 1000 is a smartphoneis illustrated in FIG. 1 .

An active area 1000A and a peripheral area (or non-active area) 1000NAmay be defined in the electronic device 1000. The electronic device 1000may display an image through the active area 1000A. The active area1000A may include a surface defined by a first direction DR1 and asecond direction DR2. The peripheral area 1000NA may surround the activearea 1000A.

A thickness direction of the electronic device 1000 may be parallel to athird direction DR3 intersecting the first direction DR1 and the seconddirection DR2. Accordingly, front surfaces (or top surfaces) and rearsurfaces (or bottom surfaces) of members constituting the electronicdevice 1000 may be defined with respect to the third direction DR3.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for describing an operation of the electronic device1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the electronic device 1000 may include a displaylayer 100, a sensor layer 200, a display driving unit 100C (e.g., adriving circuit), a sensor driving unit 200C (e.g., a driving circuit),and a main driving unit 1000C (e.g., a driving circuit).

The display layer 100 may be a component that substantially generates animage. The display layer 100 may be a light emitting display layer. Forexample, the display layer 100 may be an organic light emitting displaylayer, an inorganic light emitting display layer, an organic-inorganicdisplay layer, a quantum dot display layer, a micro-LED display layer,or a nano-LED display layer.

The sensor layer 200 may be disposed on the display layer 100. Thesensor layer 200 may sense an external input (e.g., 2000 or 3000)applied from the outside. The external input 2000 or 3000 may includeall the input means capable of providing a change in capacitance. Forexample, the sensor layer 200 may sense an input by an active-type inputmeans providing a driving signal, in addition to a passive-type inputmeans such as a body of the user.

The main driving unit 1000C may control an overall operation of theelectronic device 1000. For example, the main driving unit 1000C maycontrol operations of the display driving unit 100C and the sensordriving unit 200C. The main driving unit 1000C may include at least onemicroprocessor. Also, the main driving unit 1000C may further include agraphics processor. The main driving unit 1000C may be referred to as an“application processor”, a “central processing unit”, or a “mainprocessor”.

The display driving unit 100C may drive the display layer 100. Thedisplay driving unit 100C may receive image data RGB and a controlsignal D-CS from the main driving unit 1000C. The control signal D-CSmay include various signals. For example, the control signal D-CS mayinclude an input vertical synchronization signal, an input horizontalsynchronization signal, a main clock, a data enable signal, and thelike. The display driving unit 100C may generate a verticalsynchronization signal and a horizontal synchronization signal forcontrolling a timing to provide a signal to the display layer 100, basedon the control signal D-CS. For example, the provided signal may bebased on the image data RGB.

The sensor driving unit 200C may drive the sensor layer 200. The sensordriving unit 200C may receive a control signal I-CS from the maindriving unit 1000C. The control signal I-CS may include a mode decisionsignal that determines a driving mode of the sensor driving unit 200C.The control signal I-CS may further include a clock signal.

The sensor driving unit 200C may calculate coordinate information of aninput based on a signal received from the sensor layer 200 and mayprovide a coordinate signal I-SS including the coordinate information tothe main driving unit 1000C. The coordinate information may include aposition on the display layer touched by a user. The main driving unit1000C executes an operation corresponding to the user input based on thecoordinate signal I-SS. For example, the main driving unit 1000C maydrive the display driving unit 100C such that a new application image isdisplayed on the display layer 100.

The sensor driving unit 200C may provide the main driving unit 1000Cwith an event signal I-NS by the object 3000, which is spaced from asurface 1000SF of the electronic device 1000, based on a signal receivedfrom the sensor layer 200. The spaced object 3000 may be referred to asa “hovering object”. An ear of the user that comes close to theelectronic device 1000 is illustrated as an example of the spaced object3000, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The main driving unit 1000C may receive and process the event signalI-NS to calculate a processing result and may determine a proximitytouch has occurred based on the processing result. For example, the maindriving unit 1000C may predict a noise of the event signal I-NS by usingan artificial intelligence algorithm and may determine whether aproximity touch has occurred. That is, the event signal I-NS may be rawdata. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, dataprocessing for the event signal I-NS may not be performed by the sensordriving unit 200C, but it may be performed by the main driving unit1000C after the event signal I-NS is provided to the main driving unit1000C. Accordingly, compared to the case of providing a signal includingcoordinate information, the amount of data to be provided to the maindriving unit 1000C may increase in the case of providing the eventsignal I-NS.

The main driving unit 1000C may process the event signal I-NS by usingthe artificial intelligence algorithm and then may determine whether theobject 3000 is sensed. Afterwards, the main driving unit 1000C maycontrol the display driving unit 100C based on a determination resultsuch that luminance of an image to be displayed in the display layer 100decreases or an image is not displayed in the display layer 100. Thatis, the main driving unit 1000C may turn off the display layer 100.

Also, in an embodiment, when it is determined that the object 3000 issensed, the main driving unit 1000C may enter a sleep mode. Even thoughthe main driving unit 1000C enters the sleep mode, the sensor layer 200and the sensor driving unit 200C may maintain operations thereof.Accordingly, in the event that the object 3000 is separated from thesurface 1000SF of the electronic device 1000, the sensor driving unit200C may determine the event has occurred and may provide the maindriving unit 1000C with a signal releasing the sleep mode of the maindriving unit 1000C.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electronic device 1000according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the electronic device 1000 may include the displaylayer 100 and the sensor layer 200 disposed on the display layer 100.The display layer 100 may be referred to as a “display panel” or may bereferred to as a “sensor or input sensing layer of the sensor layer200”.

The display layer 100 may include a base layer 110, a circuit layer 120,a light emitting device layer 130, and an encapsulation layer 140.

The base layer 110 may be a member that provides a base surface on whichthe circuit layer 120 is disposed. The base layer 110 may be a glasssubstrate, a metal substrate, a polymer substrate, or the like. However,embodiments of the disclosure are not limited thereto, and the baselayer 110 may be an inorganic layer, an organic layer, or a compositematerial layer.

The base layer 110 may have a multi-layer structure. For example, thebase layer 110 may include a first synthetic resin layer, a siliconoxide (SiO_(x)) layer disposed on the first synthetic resin layer, anamorphous silicon (a-Si) layer disposed on the silicon oxide layer, anda second synthetic resin layer disposed on the amorphous silicon layer.The silicon oxide layer and the amorphous silicon layer may becollectively referred to as a “base barrier layer”.

Each of the first and second synthetic resin layers may include apolyimide-based resin. Also, each of the first and second syntheticresin layers may include at least one of an acrylate-based resin, amethacrylate-based resin, a polyisoprene-based resin, a vinyl-basedresin, an epoxy-based resin, a urethane-based resin, a cellulose-basedresin, a siloxane-based resin, a polyamide-based resin, and aperylene-based resin. Meanwhile, the expression “∼∼-based resin” in thespecification indicates that “∼∼-based resin” includes the functionalgroup of “∼∼”.

The circuit layer 120 may be disposed on the base layer 110. The circuitlayer 120 may include an insulating layer, a semiconductor pattern, aconductive pattern, a signal line, and the like. An insulating layer, asemiconductor layer, and a conductive layer may be formed on the baselayer 110 by a coating or deposition process, and the insulating layer,the semiconductor layer, and the conductive layer may then beselectively patterned through a plurality of photolithography processes.Afterwards, the semiconductor pattern, the conductive pattern, and thesignal line that are included in the circuit layer 120 may be formed.

The light emitting device layer 130 may be disposed on the circuit layer120. The light emitting device layer 130 may include a light emittingdevice. For example, the light emitting device layer 130 may include anorganic light emitting material, an inorganic light emitting material,an organic-inorganic light emitting material, a quantum dot, a quantumrod, a micro-LED, or a nano-LED.

The encapsulation layer 140 may be disposed on the light emitting devicelayer 130. The encapsulation layer 140 may protect the light emittingdevice layer 130 from foreign substances such as moisture, oxygen, anddust particles.

The sensor layer 200 may be disposed on the display layer 100. Thesensor layer 200 may sense an external input applied from the outside.The external input may be an input of the user. The user input mayinclude various types of external inputs such as a part of a user body,light, heat, a pen, or pressure.

The sensor layer 200 may be formed on the display layer 100 through asuccessive process. In this case, the expression “the sensor layer 200is directly disposed on the display layer 100” may be possible. Here,the expression “directly disposed” may mean that a third component isnot interposed between the sensor layer 200 and the display layer 100.That is, a separate adhesive member is not interposed between the sensorlayer 200 and the display layer 100.

A noise coming from the display layer 100 may be included in a signalprovided from the sensor layer 200. For example, a change in the noiseincluded in the signal provided from the sensor layer 200 when a screendisplayed in the display layer 100 changes may be greater than that whena screen displayed in the display layer 100 is in a still or non-movingstate. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the maindriving unit 1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ) predicts a noise of a signalprovided from the sensor layer 200 by using an artificial intelligencealgorithm and determines whether a proximity touch has occurred. Assuch, the accuracy of a proximity decision may be increased.

The electronic device 1000 may further include an anti-reflection layerand an optical layer on the sensor layer 200. The anti-reflection layermay reduce the reflectance of an external light incident from theoutside of the electronic device 1000. The optical layer may increasethe front luminance of the electronic device 1000 by controlling adirection of a light incident from the display layer 100.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4 , at least one inorganic layer is formed on an uppersurface of the base layer 110. The inorganic layer may include at leastone of aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, silicon oxide, silicon nitride,silicon oxynitride, zirconium oxide, and hafnium oxide. The inorganiclayer may be formed of multiple layers. The multiple inorganic layersmay constitute a barrier layer and/or a buffer layer. In thisembodiment, the display layer 100 is illustrated as including a bufferlayer BFL.

The buffer layer BFL may increase a bonding force between the base layer110 and a semiconductor pattern. The buffer layer BFL may include atleast one of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and silicon oxynitride. Forexample, the buffer layer BFL may include a structure in which a siliconoxide layer and a silicon nitride layer are stacked alternately.

The semiconductor pattern may be disposed on the buffer layer BFL. Thesemiconductor pattern may include polysilicon. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and the semiconductor pattern mayinclude amorphous silicon, low-temperature polycrystalline silicon, oroxide semiconductor.

FIG. 4 only illustrates a portion of the semiconductor pattern, and thesemiconductor pattern may be further disposed in another area.Semiconductor patterns may be arranged across pixels in a specific rule.An electrical property of the semiconductor pattern may vary dependingon whether it is doped or not. The semiconductor pattern may include afirst area having higher conductivity and a second area having lowerconductivity. The first area may be doped with an N-type dopant or aP-type dopant. A P-type transistor may include a doping area doped withthe P-type dopant, and an N-type transistor may include a doping areadoped with the N-type dopant. The second area may be a non-doping areaor may be an area doped at a lower concentration than the first area.

The conductivity of the first area may be greater than the conductivityof the second area, and the first area may substantially serve as anelectrode or a signal line. The second area may substantially correspondto an active (or channel) of a transistor. In other words, a portion ofthe semiconductor pattern may be an active of a transistor, anotherportion thereof may be a source or a drain of the transistor, andanother portion thereof may be a connection electrode or a connectionsignal line.

Each of pixels may be expressed by an equivalent circuit including 7transistors, one capacitor, and a light emitting device, and theequivalent circuit of the pixel may be modified in various forms. Onetransistor 100PC and one light emitting device 100PE that are includedin one pixel are illustrated in FIG. 4 as an example.

A source area SC, an active area AL, and a drain area DR of thetransistor 100PC may be formed from the semiconductor pattern. Thesource area SC and the drain area DR may extend in directions oppositeto each other from the active area AL in a cross-sectional view. Aportion of a connection signal line SCL forming from the semiconductorpattern is illustrated in FIG. 4 . Although not separately illustrated,the connection signal line SCL may be connected to the drain area DR ofthe transistor 100PC in a plan view.

A first insulating layer 10 may be disposed on the buffer layer BFL. Thefirst insulating layer 10 may overlap a plurality of pixels in commonand may cover the semiconductor pattern. The first insulating layer 10may be an inorganic layer and/or an organic layer, and may have asingle-layer or multi-layer structure. The first insulating layer 10 mayinclude at least one of aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, silicon oxide,silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, zirconium oxide, and a hafniumoxide. In this embodiment, the first insulating layer 10 may be asilicon oxide layer having a single layer. As well as the firstinsulating layer 10, an insulating layer of the circuit layer 120 to bedescribed later may be an inorganic layer and/or an organic layer, andmay have a single-layer or multi-layer structure. The inorganic layermay include at least one of the materials described above but is notlimited thereto.

A gate GT of the transistor 100PC is disposed on the first insulatinglayer 10. The gate GT may be a portion of a metal pattern. The gate GToverlaps the active area AL. The gate GT may function as a mask in theprocess of doping the semiconductor pattern.

A second insulating layer 20 may be disposed on the first insulatinglayer 10 and may cover the gate GT. The second insulating layer 20 mayoverlap the pixels in common. The second insulating layer 20 may be aninorganic layer and/or an organic layer, and may have a single-layer ormulti-layer structure. The second insulating layer 20 may include atleast one of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and silicon oxynitride. Inthis embodiment, the second insulating layer 20 may have a multi-layerstructure including a silicon oxide layer and a silicon nitride layer.

The third insulating layer 30 may be disposed on the second insulatinglayer 20. The third insulating layer 30 may have a single-layer ormulti-layer structure. In this embodiment, the third insulating layer 30may have a multi-layer structure including a silicon oxide layer and asilicon nitride layer.

A first connection electrode CNE1 may be disposed on the thirdinsulating layer 30. The first connection electrode CNE1 may beconnected to the connection signal line SCL through a contact hole CNT-1penetrating the first, second, and third insulating layers 10, 20, and30.

A fourth insulating layer 40 may be disposed on the third insulatinglayer 30. The fourth insulating layer 40 may be a single silicon oxidelayer. A fifth insulating layer 50 may be disposed on the fourthinsulating layer 40. The fifth insulating layer 50 may be an organiclayer.

A second connection electrode CNE2 may be disposed on the fifthinsulating layer 50. The second connection electrode CNE2 may beconnected with the first connection electrode CNE1 through a contacthole CNT-2 penetrating the fourth insulating layer 40 and the fifthinsulating layer 50.

A sixth insulating layer 60 may be disposed on the fifth insulatinglayer 50 and may cover the second connection electrode CNE2. The sixthinsulating layer 60 may be an organic layer.

The light emitting device layer 130 may be disposed on the circuit layer120. The light emitting device layer 130 may include the light emittingdevice 100PE. For example, the light emitting device layer 130 mayinclude an organic light emitting material, an inorganic light emittingmaterial, an organic-inorganic light emitting material, a quantum dot, aquantum rod, a micro-LED, or a nano-LED. Below, an example in which thelight emitting device 100PE is an organic light emitting device will bedescribed, but the light emitting device 100PE is not specificallylimited thereto.

The light emitting device 100PE may include a first electrode (or ananode electrode) AE, a light emitting layer EL, and a second electrode(or a cathode electrode) CE.

The first electrode AE may be disposed on the sixth insulating layer 60.The first electrode AE may be connected with the second connectionelectrode CNE2 through a contact hole CNT-3 penetrating the sixthinsulating layer 60.

A pixel defining layer 70 may be disposed on the sixth insulating layer60 and may cover a part of the first electrode AE. An opening 70-OP isdefined in the pixel defining layer 70. The opening 70-OP of the pixeldefining layer 70 exposes at least a portion of the first electrode AE.

The active area 1000A (refer to FIG. 1 ) may include a light emittingarea PXA and a non-light emitting area NPXA adjacent to the lightemitting area PXA. The non-light emitting area NPXA may surround thelight emitting area PXA. In this embodiment, the light emitting area PXAis defined to correspond to a partial area of the first electrode AE,which is exposed by the opening 70-OP.

The emission layer EL may be disposed on the first electrode AE. Theemission layer EL may be disposed in an area defined by the opening70-OP. That is, the emission layer EL may be independently disposed foreach pixel. In the case where the emission layers EL are independentlydisposed for each pixel, each of the emission layers EL may emit a lightof at least one of a blue color, a red color, and a green color.However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, theemission layer EL may be provided to be connected in common with thepixels. In this case, the emission layer EL may provide a blue color ormay provide a white color.

The second electrode CE may be disposed on the emission layer EL. Thesecond electrode CE may be integrally disposed in a plurality of pixelsin common.

A hole control layer may be interposed between the first electrode AEand the emission layer EL. The hole control layer may be disposed incommon in the light emitting area PXA and the non-light emitting areaNPXA. The hole control layer may include a hole transport layer and mayfurther include a hole injection layer. An electron control layer may beinterposed between the emission layer EL and the second electrode CE.The electron control layer may include an electron transport layer andmay further include an electron injection layer. The hole control layerand the electron control layer may be formed in common at a plurality ofpixels by using an open mask.

The encapsulation layer 140 may be disposed on the light emitting devicelayer 130. The encapsulation layer 140 may include an inorganic layer,an organic layer, and an inorganic layer sequentially stacked, andlayers constituting the encapsulation layer 140 are not limited thereto.

The inorganic layers may protect the light emitting device layer 130from moisture and oxygen, and the organic layer may protect the lightemitting device layer 130 from a foreign material such as dustparticles. The inorganic layers may include a silicon nitride layer, asilicon oxynitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a titanium oxide layer,or an aluminum oxide layer. The organic layer may include anacrylic-based organic layer but is not limited thereto.

The sensor layer 200 may include a sensor base layer 201, a firstconductive layer 202, a sensing insulating layer 203, a secondconductive layer 204, and a cover insulating layer 205.

The sensor base layer 201 may be an inorganic layer including at leastone of silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, and silicon oxide.Alternatively, the sensor base layer 201 may be an organic layerincluding epoxy resin, acrylate resin, or imide-based resin. The sensorbase layer 201 may have a single-layer structure or may have amulti-layer structure in which multiple layers are stacked in the thirddirection DR3.

Each of the first conductive layer 202 and the second conductive layer204 may have a single-layer structure or may have a multi-layerstructure in which a plurality of layers are stacked in the thirddirection DR3.

Each of the first conductive layer 202 and the second conductive layer204 that have a single-layer structure may include a metal layer or atransparent conductive layer. The metal layer may include molybdenum,silver, titanium, copper, aluminum, or an alloy thereof. The transparentconductive layer may include transparent conductive oxide such as indiumtin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), zinc oxide (ZnO), or indiumzinc tin oxide (IZTO). In addition, the transparent conductive layer mayinclude conductive polymer such as PEDOT, metal nanowire, or graphene.

Each of the first conductive layer 202 and the second conductive layer204 that have a multi-layer structure may include metal layers. Themetal layers may have, for example, a three-layer structure oftitanium/aluminum/titanium. The conductive layer of the multi-layerstructure may include at least one metal layer and at least onetransparent conductive layer.

At least one of the sensing insulating layer 203 and the coverinsulating layer 205 may include an inorganic layer. The inorganic layermay include at least one of aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, siliconoxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, zirconium oxide, and hafniumoxide.

At least one of the sensing insulating layer 203 and the coverinsulating layer 205 may include an organic layer. The organic film mayinclude at least one of an acrylic-based resin, a methacrylic-basedresin, a polyisoprene, a vinyl-based resin, an epoxy-based resin, aurethane-based resin, a cellulose-based resin, a siloxane-based resin, apolyimide-based resin, a polyamide-based resin, and a perylene-basedresin.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the display layer 100 and thedisplay driving unit 100C according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the display layer 100 may include a plurality ofscan lines SL1 to SLn (n being an integer of 2 or more), a plurality ofdata lines DL1 to DLm (m being an integer of 2 or more), and a pluralityof pixels PX. Each of the plurality of pixels PX is connected with acorresponding data line of the plurality of data lines DL1 to DLm andmay be connected with a corresponding scan line of the plurality of scanlines SL1 to SLn. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, thedisplay layer 100 may further include light emission control lines, andthe display driving unit 100C may further include a light emissiondriving circuit that provides control signals to the light emissioncontrol lines. However, a configuration of the display layer 100 is notspecifically limited to that described above.

Each of the plurality of scan lines SL1 to SLn may extend in the firstdirection DR1, and the plurality of scan lines SL1 to SLn may bearranged to be spaced from each other in the second direction DR2. Eachof the plurality of data lines DL1 to DLm may extend in the seconddirection DR2, and the plurality of data lines DL1 to DLm may bearranged to be spaced from each other in the first direction DR1.

The display driving unit 100C may include a signal control circuit100C1, a scan driving circuit 100C2, and a data driving circuit 100C3.

The signal control circuit 100C1 may receive the image data RGB and thecontrol signal D-CS from the main driving unit 1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ).The control signal D-CS may include various signals. For example, thecontrol signal D-CS may include an input vertical synchronizationsignal, an input horizontal synchronization signal, a main clock, a dataenable signal, and the like.

The signal control circuit 100C1 may generate a first control signalCONT1 and a vertical synchronization signal Vsync based on the controlsignal D-CS and may output the first control signal CONT1 and thevertical synchronization signal Vsync to the scan driving circuit 100C2.The vertical synchronization signal Vsync may be included in the firstcontrol signal CONT1.

The signal control circuit 100C1 may generate a second control signalCONT2 and a horizontal synchronization signal Hsync based on the controlsignal D-CS, and may output the second control signal CONT2 and thehorizontal synchronization signal Hsync to the data driving circuit100C3. The horizontal synchronization signal Hsync may be included inthe second control signal CONT2.

Also, the signal control circuit 100C1 may provide the data drivingcircuit 100C3 with a driving signal DS that is obtained by processingthe image data RGB so as to be appropriate for an operating condition ofthe display layer 100. The first control signal CONT1 and the secondcontrol signal CONT2 that are signals for operations of the scan drivingcircuit 100C2 and the data driving circuit 100C3 are not specificallylimited.

The scan driving circuit 100C2 drives the plurality of scan lines SL1 toSLn in response to the first control signal CONT1 and the verticalsynchronization signal Vsync. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the scan driving circuit 100C2 may be formed using the sameprocess as the circuit layer 120 (refer to FIG. 4 ) in the display layer100, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, thescan driving circuit 100C2 may be implemented with an integrated circuit(IC) for electrical connection with the display layer 100, theintegrated circuit may be directly mounted in a given area of thedisplay layer 100 or may be mounted on a separate printed circuit boardin a chip-on-film (COF) manner.

The data driving circuit 100C3 may output gray scale voltages to theplurality of data lines DL1 to DLm in response to the second controlsignal CONT2, the horizontal synchronization signal Hsync, and thedriving signal DS from the signal control circuit 100C1. The datadriving circuit 100C3 may be implemented with an integrated circuit forelectrical connection with the display layer 100, the integrated circuitmay be directly mounted in a given area of the display layer 100 or maybe mounted on a separate printed circuit board in the chip-on-filmmanner, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example,the data driving circuit 100C3 may be formed using the same process asthe circuit layer 120 (refer to FIG. 4 ) in the display layer 100.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the sensor layer 200 and thesensor driving unit 200C according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the sensor layer 200 may include a plurality offirst electrodes 210 and a plurality of second electrodes 220. Each ofthe plurality of second electrodes 220 may intersect the plurality offirst electrodes 210. The sensor layer 200 may further include aplurality of signal lines connected with the plurality of firstelectrodes 210 and the plurality of second electrodes 220.

Each of the plurality of first electrodes 210 may extend in the seconddirection DR2, and the plurality of first electrodes 210 may be arrangedto be spaced from each in the first direction DR1. Each of the pluralityof second electrodes 220 may extend in the first direction DR1, and theplurality of second electrodes 220 may be arranged to be spaced fromeach in the second direction DR2.

Each of the plurality of first electrodes 210 may include a sensingpattern 211 and a bridge pattern 212. Two sensing patterns 211 that areadjacent to each other may be electrically connected with each other bytwo bridge patterns 212, but the present disclosure is not particularlylimited thereto. The sensing pattern 211 may be included in the secondconductive layer 204 (refer to FIG. 4 ), and the bridge pattern 212 maybe included in the first conductive layer 202 (refer to FIG. 4 ).

Each of the plurality of second electrodes 220 may include a firstportion 221 and a second portion 222. The first portion 221 and thesecond portion 222 may have an integrated shape and may be disposed inthe same layer. For example, a single unitary layer may include thefirst portion 221 and the second portion 222. For example, the firstportion 221 and the second portion 222 may be included in the secondconductive layer 204 (refer to FIG. 4 ). Two bridge patterns 212 may beinsulated from the second portion 222 and may intersect the secondportion 222.

The sensor driving unit 200C may selectively operate in a first mode (orreferred to as a “proximity sensing mode”) or a second mode (or referredto as a “touch sensing mode”) different from the first mode. The sensordriving unit 200C may receive the control signal I-CS from the maindriving unit 1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ). In the first mode, the sensordriving unit 200C may provide the main driving unit 1000C (refer to FIG.2 ) with the event signal I-NS by the spaced object 3000. In the secondmode, the sensor driving unit 200C may provide the main driving unit1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ) with the coordinate signal I-SS. In anembodiment, the sensor driving unit 200C provides information (e.g., theevent signal I-NS) on objects that are brought near the sensor layer 200in the proximity sensing mode, and sensor driving unit 200C providesinformation (e.g., coordinate signal I-SS) based on a touch of thesensor layer 200 by a finger, pen, stylus, etc.

The sensor driving unit 200C may be implemented with an integratedcircuit (IC) for electrical connection with the sensor layer 200. Theintegrated circuit may be directly mounted in a given area of the sensorlayer 200 or may be mounted on a separate printed circuit board in achip-on-film (COF) manner.

The sensor driving unit 200C may include a sensor control circuit 200C1,a signal generation circuit 200C2, and an input detection circuit 200C3.The sensor control circuit 200C1 may control operations of the signalgeneration circuit 200C2 and the input detection circuit 200C3 based onthe control signal I-CS.

The signal generation circuit 200C2 may output transmit signals TX tothe first electrodes 210 of the sensor layer 200. The input detectioncircuit 200C3 may receive sensing signals RX from the sensor layer 200.For example, the input detection circuit 200C3 may receive the sensingsignals RX from the second electrodes 220. For example, the inputdetection circuit 200C3 may receive the sensing signals RX in responseto output of the transmit signals TX.

The input detection circuit 200C3 may convert an analog signal into adigital signal. For example, the input detection circuit 200C3 amplifiesa received analog signal and then filters the amplified signal. That is,the input detection circuit 200C3 may convert the filtered signal into adigital signal.

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating an operation of the sensor layer 200according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7B is adiagram illustrating first transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx (xbeing an integer of 3 or more) according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. FIG. 7A shows an operation of the sensor layer 200 when thesensor driving unit 200C operates in a first mode MD1. The first modeMD1 may be referred to as a “proximity sensing mode MD1”.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 7A, and 7B, in the first mode MD1, the sensordriving unit 200C may output the plurality of first transmit signalsTXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx to the plurality of first electrodes 210,respectively, and may receive first sensing signals RXS1 and RXS2 toRXSy (y being an integer of 3 or more) from the plurality of secondelectrodes 220, respectively. The sensor driving unit 200C may outputthe first sensing signals RXS1 and RXS2 to RXSy to the main driving unit1000C without modification. That is, the event signal I-NS may includethe first sensing signals RXS1 and RXS2 to RXSy.

The plurality of first transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx may besimultaneously output to the plurality of first electrodes 210. In anembodiment, the plurality of first transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 toTXSx are in phase with one another and have the same waveform.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as an intensity ofa signal for detecting an object close to the electronic device 1000(refer to FIG. 1 ) increases, the signal-to-noise ratio of the firstsensing signals RXS1 and RXS2 to RXSy may increase. Accordingly, aproximity sensing recognition distance (or a possible object recognitionheight) may increase. For example, the possible object recognitionheight when the plurality of first transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 toTXSx are used for proximity sensing was measured to be higher as much asabout 5 mm than the possible object recognition height when a pluralityof second transmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx illustrated in FIG. 11Bare used for proximity sensing.

In the case of sensing a hovering object, the plurality of firsttransmit signals TXS 1 and TXS2 to TXSx being in phase may be providedto all the first electrodes 210, but the present disclosure is notparticularly limited thereto. For example, the sensor layer 200 isdivided into a plurality of regions according to a shape of the touchsensor or a shape of the electronic device. The in-phase firsttransmission signals may be provided to electrodes disposed in one ofthe plurality of regions. When the in-phase first transmit signals areprovided to the partial area, a report rate may be increased.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the main driving unit 1000C according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a block diagramillustrating a noise prediction model 1120 according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. FIG. 10A illustrates a waveform of the eventsignal I-NS provided as raw data. FIG. 10B illustrates a waveform of anintermediate signal I-MS whose noise is removed by a noise model. FIG.10C illustrates a waveform of a decision signal DCS decided by adecision model.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 8 , an operation for predicting and removing anoise included in the first sensing signals RXS1 and RXS2 to RXSyreceived in the proximity sensing mode is performed by the main drivingunit 1000C. In an embodiment, the operation for predicting and removingthe noise is not performed by the sensor driving unit 200C. For example,the main driving unit 1000C may include or have access to an artificialintelligence algorithm. The main driving unit 1000C may predict andremove a noise included in the first sensing signals RXS1 and RXS2 toRXSy by utilizing the artificial intelligence algorithm, and thus, theaccuracy of proximity decision may be increased.

For example, the main driving unit 1000C may include a noise model 1100and a decision model 1200. The noise model 1100 may be trained topredict a noise included in the plurality of first sensing signals RXS1and RXS2 to RXSy. The decision model 1200 may determine whether anobject approaches, based on a selective noise prediction value SNDCoutput from the noise model 1100 and the plurality of first sensingsignals RXS1 and RXS2 to RXSy and may output a decision signal DCS. Theselective noise prediction value SNDC may be a noise predicted by thenoise model. For example, the decision model 1200 may determine whetheran object is close to the electronic device 1000 or is within a certaindistance from the electronic device 1000. For example, the selectivenoise prediction value SNDC may be a value that represents a level ofnoise.

The noise model 1100 may include a noise experience indicator 1110, aplurality of noise prediction models 1120, and a selector 1130. Thedecision model 1200 may include a QoS controller 1210, a subtractor1220, an absolute strength indicator 1230, a relative strength indicator1240, and a result decision model 1250.

The noise experience indicator 1110 (e.g., a logic circuit) may receivethe event signal I-NS and may provide meta information MTI about theevent signal I-NS to the decision model 1200. For example, the noiseexperience indicator 1110 may provide the QoS controller 1210 with themeta information MTI including a change level of data of the eventsignal I-NS. The QoS controller 1210 (e.g., a control circuit) maydetermine a noise level based on the meta information MTI; based on adetermination result, the QoS controller 1210 may adjust a thresholdvalue of the result decision model 1250 or may provide the resultdecision model 1250 with a signal for changing logic of the resultdecision model 1250. Depending on the noise level, the logic of theresult decision model 1250 may be changed. For example, the QoScontroller 1210 may provide the signal for changing the logic to theresult decision model 1250, and the result decision model 1250 mayreceive the signal and the logic may be changed.

The event signal I-NS, that is, the first sensing signals RXS1 and RXS2to RXSy may be respectively provided to the plurality of noiseprediction models 1120. In an embodiment, each of the noise predictionmodels 1120 includes an artificial neural network. The plurality ofnoise prediction models 1120 may respectively output noise signals NDC,which are spatially separated from each other, based on the firstsensing signals RXS1 and RXS2 to RXSy. For example, when the number ofnoise prediction models 1120 is “4”, the first sensing signals RXS1 andRXS2 to RXSy may be sequentially divided into four groups, and thus, thenoise signals NDC corresponding thereto may be output.

Referring to FIG. 9 , each of the noise prediction models 1120 mayinclude a moving window 1121, a moving averaging unit 1122, and a noisepredictor 1123.

Signal sets corresponding to a plurality of frames may be input to themoving window 1121. For example, the first sensing signals RXS1 and RXS2to RXSy respectively corresponding to a first frame to a K-th frame maybe input to the moving window 1121. That is, the event signals I-NSrespectively corresponding to the first frame to the K-th frame may beinput to the moving window 1121.

The moving averaging unit 1122 (e.g., a logic circuit) may calculate amoving average of the event signals I-NS input in a time-series mannerto generate a first correction value. For example, the intermediatesignal I-MS output from the moving averaging unit 1122 may be anoise-free signal and may correspond to the intermediate signal I-MSillustrated in FIG. 10B. The intermediate signal I-MS may be a signalthat is obtained by removing a data outlier from the event signals I-NS.For example, the intermediate signal I-MS may be generated from themoving average.

The intermediate signal I-MS output from the moving averaging unit 1122may be input to the noise predictor 1123 to which the artificialintelligence algorithm is applied, and the noise prediction value NDCmay be output based on the intermediate signal I-MS. In an embodiment,the noise predictor 1123 includes an artificial neural network toexecute the artificial intelligence algorithm.

The noise predictor 1123 may predict a noise of a sensor output bylearning a noise for each user environment and display screen by usingthe artificial intelligence algorithm. The deep learning that is a typeof artificial neural network may be used as the artificial intelligencealgorithm. For example, the neural network may include a convolutionalneural network. Alternatively, a regression algorithm of the machinelearning may be used. An environment in which a temperature changes, anenvironment in which humidity changes, an environment at a specifictemperature, or an environment at a specific humidity may be consideredas the user environment. A display screen including a specific color, adisplay screen including a specific luminance, or a display screenincluding various colors may be considered as the display screen.

The noise predictor 1123 may be trained using various methods. Forexample, a method in which the noise predictor 1123 is trained inadvance and weights corresponding to a training result are stored in thenoise predictor 1123, or a method in which the noise predictor 1123 istrained in real time based on pieces of data in the moving window 1121may be used.

Returning to FIG. 8 , the selector 1130 may receive the noise predictionvalues NDC respectively output from the plurality of noise predictionmodels 1120. That is, the plurality of noise prediction values NDC maybe provided to the selector 1130. The selector 1130 may select one ofthe plurality of noise prediction values NDC as the selective noiseprediction value SNDC and may output the selected noise prediction valueSNDC to the decision model 1200. For example, the selector 1130 mayselect a maximum value or a minimum value of the plurality of noiseprediction values NDC or an intermediate value of the remaining noiseprediction values except for the maximum value and the minimum value asthe selective noise prediction value SNDC. For example, a logic circuitand/or a comparator may be used to implement the selector 1130. A valuethat is selected as the selective noise prediction value SNDC may bevariously changed or modified, and is not limited to the above example.

The subtractor 1220 may remove a noise from the event signal I-NS bysubtracting the selective noise prediction value SNDC from the eventsignal I-NS. The subtractor 1220 may provide the relative strengthindicator 1240 (e.g., a logic circuit) with a signal that is obtained bysubtracting the selective noise prediction value SNDC from the eventsignal I-NS.

The relative strength indicator 1240 may determine whether a proximitysensing has occurred, based on a pure signal being a result ofsubtracting the selective noise prediction value SNDC from the eventsignal I-NS and may output a second signal F2 corresponding to adetermination result to the result decision model 1250.

The absolute strength indicator 1230 (e.g., a logic circuit) may receivethe event signal I-NS. The absolute strength indicator 1230 may processthe event signal I-NS, that is, raw data without modification. Theabsolute strength indicator 1230 may determine whether proximity sensinghas occurred, based on the event signal I-NS and may output a firstsignal F1 corresponding to a determination result to the result decisionmodel 1250.

The result decision model 1250 may finally determine whether an objectapproaches, based on the first signal F1 and the second signal F2 andmay output the decision signal DCS. For example, if the result decisionmodel 1250 determines that the object has been brought within a certaindistance of the device 1000 based on the first signal F1 and the secondsignal F2, the decision signal DCS is set to a first value. For example,if the result decision model 1250 determines that the object has notbeen brought within the certain distance, the decision signal DCS is setto a second value different from the first value. Referring to FIG. 10C,the decision signal DCS may be in the shape of a square wave.

An operation of the result decision model 1250 may be controlled by theQoS controller 1210. The result decision model 1250 may determinewhether an object approaches, based on the first signal F1 and thesecond signal F2 depending on the adjusted threshold value according tothe noise level or the determined logic according to the noise level andmay output the decision signal DCS. For example, the result decisionmodel 1250 may compare the first signal F1 and the second signal F2 withan adjusted threshold value to determine whether the object approaches.Alternatively, the result decision model 1250 may determine whether anobject approaches by calculating the first signal F1 and the secondsignal F2 according to the determined logic.

The artificial intelligence algorithm may be applicable to the resultdecision model 1250. For example, to finally determine whether an objectapproaches, a decision tree or a support vector machine (SVM) being analgorithm for classification may be applied to the result decision model1250. Compared to heuristic models that require developers to setparameters or thresholds in advance, performance may be increased whendetermining whether an object approaches, by using the artificialintelligence algorithm.

FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating an operation of the sensor layer 200according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 11B is adiagram illustrating the second transmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFxaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 11A shows anoperation of the sensor layer 200 when the sensor driving unit 200Coperates in a second mode MD2. The second mode MD2 may be referred to asa “touch sensing mode MD2”.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 11A, and 11B, in the second mode MD2, the sensordriving unit 200C may output the plurality of second transmit signalsTXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx to the plurality of first electrodes 210,respectively, and may receive second sensing signals RXF1 and RXF2 toRXFy from the plurality of second electrodes 220, respectively.

The sensor driving unit 200C may provide the main driving unit 1000Cwith the coordinate signal I-SS obtained based on the plurality ofsecond sensing signals RXF1 and RXF2 to RXFy. A data amount of thecoordinate signal I-SS may be smaller than a data amount of the eventsignal I-NS. In an embodiment, a size of data within the coordinatesignal I-SS is smaller than a size of data within the event signal I-NS.

The second transmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx that are provided foreach of three frames FR1, FR2, and FRz (z being an integer of 3 or more)are illustrated in FIG. 11B. An example in which a third frame to a(z-1)-th frame between the second frame F2 and the z-th frame FRz areomitted is illustrated.

In the first frame FR1, a first phase of one second transmit signal TXF1of the plurality of second transmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx may bedifferent from a second phase of the remaining second transmit signalsTXF2 to TXFx. In the second frame FR2, a first phase of one secondtransmit signal TXF2 of the plurality of second transmit signals TXF1and TXF2 to TXFx may be different from a second phase of the remainingsecond transmit signals. In the z-th frame FRz, a first phase of onesecond transmit signal TXFz of the plurality of second transmit signalsTXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx may be different from a second phase of theremaining second transmit signals. For example, a difference between thefirst phase and the second phase may be 180 degrees.

Even though the plurality of second transmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 toTXFx are simultaneously output to the plurality of first electrodes 210in the second mode MD2, in each frame, a phase of one second transmitsignal of the plurality of second transmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFxmay be different from a phase of the remaining second transmit signals.Accordingly, upon decoding the plurality of second sensing signals RXF1and RXF2 to RXFy, because it is possible to detect a capacitance changevalue for each of nodes (e.g., points) located between the firstelectrodes 210 and the second electrodes 220, a two-dimensional (2D)coordinate value may be obtained. For example, the 2D coordinate valuemay include an X and Y coordinate value.

Referring to FIGS. 7B and 11B, a driving voltage of the plurality offirst transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx may be the same as orsubstantially the same as a driving voltage of the plurality of secondtransmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx. For example, a high-levelvoltage VMH of the plurality of first transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 toTXSx may be equal to a high-level voltage VMH of the plurality of secondtransmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx. Also, a low-level voltage VML ofthe plurality of first transmit signals TXS 1 and TXS2 to TXSx may beequal to a low-level voltage VML of the plurality of second transmitsignals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the plurality offirst transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx may be provided by using avoltage used in touch sensing, without using a separate higher voltageto increase the sensitivity of proximity sensing. Instead, when thefirst transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx being in phase aresimultaneously provided to the first electrodes 210, an intensity of asignal for detecting an object close to the electronic device 1000(refer to FIG. 1 ) may be increased, and thus, the proximity sensingsensitivity may be further improved.

A period WL1 of each of the plurality of first transmit signals TXS1 andTXS2 to TXSx may be longer than a period WL2 of each of the plurality ofsecond transmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx. That is, a frequency ofeach of the plurality of first transmit signals TXS 1 and TXS2 to TXSxmay be lower than a frequency of each of the plurality of secondtransmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx. Because the frequency of theplurality of first transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx in theproximity sensing mode is relatively low, an absolute value of a digitalsignal converted from the first sensing signals RXS1 and RXS2 to RXSysensed from the sensor layer 200 may become greater. Accordingly, theproximity sensing sensitivity in the proximity sensing mode may beincreased.

That is, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, awaveform of the plurality of first transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 toTXSx may be identical in amplitude to a waveform of the plurality ofsecond transmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx, and the plurality offirst transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx may be different infrequency and period from the plurality of second transmit signals TXF1and TXF2 to TXFx.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating the sensor layer 200 and thesensor driving unit 200C according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In the description of FIG. 12 , a difference with FIG. 6will be described, and the same components are marked by the samereference numerals, and thus, additional description will be omitted toavoid redundancy.

Referring to FIG. 12 , the sensor driving unit 200C may selectivelyoperate in a first sub mode (or referred to as a “proximity sensingmode”), a second sub mode (or a proximity coordinate sensing mode), or asecond mode (or referred to as a “touch sensing mode”).

The sensor driving unit 200C may receive the control signal I-CS fromthe main driving unit 1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ). In the first sub mode,the sensor driving unit 200C may provide the main driving unit 1000C(refer to FIG. 2 ) with the event signal I-NS by the spaced object 3000(refer to FIG. 2 ). In the second sub mode, the sensor driving unit 200Cmay provide the main driving unit 1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ) with aproximity coordinate signal I-PSS by the spaced object 3000. In thesecond mode, the sensor driving unit 200C may provide the main drivingunit 1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ) with the coordinate signal I-SS.

FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating sub modes SMD1 and SMD2 included in afirst mode MDla according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13 a , the first mode MDla may include a firstsub mode SMD1 and a second sub mode SMD2. In the first sub mode SMD1,the sensor driving unit 200C may output the event signal I-NS to themain driving unit 1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ). In the second sub mode SMD2,the sensor driving unit 200C may output the proximity coordinate signalI-PSS to the main driving unit 1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ).

The first sub mode SMD1 may be the same as or substantially the same asthe first mode MD1 described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B. In thecase of the proximity sensing, because it is sufficient to determineonly the approach of a large-area conductor, only the first sub modeSMD1, that is, the first mode MD1 described with reference to FIGS. 7Aand 7B may be sufficient. Nevertheless, in the case where the first modeMDla further includes the second sub mode SMD2 for sensing coordinateinformation about proximity sensing, it may be possible to additionallyimplement various functions by using the second sub mode SMD2, and thus,various demands of the user may be satisfied.

In the first mode MD1a, the sensor layer 200 and the sensor driving unit200C may operate in the second sub mode SMD2 and may then continue tooperate in the first sub mode SMD1. In the case of the first mode MD1a,a length of an operating period in the first sub mode SMD1 may be longerthan a length of an operating period in the second sub mode SMD2. Forexample, the length of the operating period of the first sub mode SMD1may be about four times the length of the operating period of the secondsub mode SMD2, but the present disclosure is not particularly limitedthereto. For example, assuming that a frame rate in the first mode MDlais 60 Hz (hertz), about 12 ms (milliseconds) of 16.7 ms corresponding toone period may be allocated for the first sub mode SMD1, and about 4 msthereof may be allocated for the second sub mode SMD2.

FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating sub modes included in a first modeaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 13B, in a first mode MD1b, the sensor layer 200 andthe sensor driving unit 200C may operate in the first sub mode SMD1 andmay then continue to operate in the second sub mode SMD2. In the case ofthe first mode MD1b, a length of an operating period in the first submode SMD1 may be longer than a length of an operating period in thesecond sub mode SMD2.

FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating an operation of the sensor layer 200according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14B is adiagram illustrating third transmit signals TXP1 and TXP2 to TXPxaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14A shows anoperation of the sensor layer 200 when the sensor driving unit 200Coperates in the second sub mode SMD2. The second sub mode SMD2 may bereferred to as a “proximity coordinate sensing mode SMD2”.

Referring to FIGS. 12, 14A, and 14B, in the second sub mode SMD2, thesensor driving unit 200C may output the plurality of third transmitsignals TXP1 and TXP2 to TXPx to the plurality of first electrodes 210,respectively, and may receive a plurality of third sensing signals RXP1and RXP2 to RXPy from the plurality of second electrodes 220,respectively. The sensor driving unit 200C may provide the main drivingunit 1000C (refer to FIG. 2 ) with the proximity coordinate signal I-PSSobtained based on the plurality of third sensing signals RXP1 and RXP2to RXPy.

The plurality of third transmit signals TXP1 and TXP2 to TXPx that areprovided for each of the three frames PFR1, PFR2, and PFRz areillustrated in FIG. 14B. An example in which the third frame to the(z-1)-th frame between the second frame PFR2 and the z-th frame PFRz areomitted is illustrated.

In the first frame PFR1, a first phase of one third transmit signal TXP1of the plurality of third transmit signals TXP1 and TXP2 to TXPx may bedifferent from a second phase of the remaining third transmit signalsTXP2 to TXPx. In the second frame PFR2, a first phase of one thirdtransmit signal TXP2 of the plurality of third transmit signals TXP1 andTXP2 to TXPx may be different from a second phase of the remaining thirdtransmit signals. In the z-th frame PFRz, a first phase of one thirdtransmit signal TXPz of the plurality of third transmit signals TXP1 andTXP2 to TXPx may be different from a second phase of the remaining thirdtransmit signals. For example, a difference between the first phase andthe second phase may be 180 degrees.

Even though the plurality of the third transmit signals TXP1 and TXP2 toTXPx are simultaneously output to the plurality of first electrodes 210in the second sub mode SMD2, in each frame, a phase of one thirdtransmit signal of the plurality of third transmit signals TXP1 and TXP2to TXPx may be different from a phase of the remaining third transmitsignals. Accordingly, upon decoding a plurality of third sensing signalsRXP1 and RXP2 to RXPy, because it is possible to detect a capacitancechange value for each of nodes formed between the first electrodes 210and the second electrodes 220, a two-dimensional (2D) coordinate valuemay be obtained. For example, the 2D coordinate value may include an Xand Y coordinate value.

Referring to FIGS. 7B and 14B, a driving voltage of the plurality offirst transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx may be the same as orsubstantially the same as a driving voltage of the plurality of thirdtransmit signals TXP1 and TXP2 to TXPx.

To increase the accuracy of determining whether a proximity sensing hasoccurred, a frequency of the plurality of first transmit signals TXS1and TXS2 to TXSx in the first sub mode SMD1 (refer to FIG. 13A) may belower than a frequency of the plurality of third transmit signals TXP1and TXP2 to TXPx in the second sub mode SMD2. The period WL1 of each ofthe plurality of first transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx may belonger than a period WL3 of each of the plurality of third transmitsignals TXP1 and TXP2 to TXPx. The period WL1 may be about four timesthe period WL3. However, it may be sufficient that the period WL1 islonger than the period WL3, and the present disclosure is notparticularly limited thereto.

That is, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, awaveform of the plurality of first transmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 toTXSx may be identical in amplitude to a waveform of the plurality ofthird transmit signals TXP1 and TXP2 to TXPx, and the plurality of firsttransmit signals TXS1 and TXS2 to TXSx may be different in frequency andperiod from the plurality of third transmit signals TXP1 and TXP2 toTXPx.

Referring to FIGS. 11B and 14B, the period WL2 of each of the pluralityof second transmit signals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx may be the same as orsubstantially the same as the period WL3 of each of the plurality ofthird transmit signals TXP1 and TXP2 to TXPx. In an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a waveform of the plurality of second transmitsignals TXF1 and TXF2 to TXFx may be the same or substantially the sameas a waveform of the plurality of third transmit signals TXP1 and TXP2to TXPx. In an embodiment, a frame rate upon operating in the secondmode MD2 (refer to FIG. 11A) is different from a frame rate uponoperating in the second sub mode SMD2.

According to the above description, in a proximity sensing mode, asensor driving unit may simultaneously provide first transmit signalsbeing in phase to a plurality of first electrodes of a sensor layer,respectively. In this case, as an intensity of a proximity signalincreases, a signal-to-noise ratio may become greater. Accordingly, aproximity sensing recognition distance (or a possible object recognitionheight) may increase.

Also, since noise learning for each user environment and display screenis performed by using an artificial intelligence technology, it may bepossible to predict a noise of a sensing signal and to remove the noise.Also, the artificial intelligence technology may be used even upondetermining whether an object approaches, based on the sensing signaland the predicted noise. Accordingly, the performance of proximitydecision of an electronic device may be increased.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference toembodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art that various changes and modifications may be made theretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure asset forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a display layerconfigured to display an image; a display driving circuit configured todrive the display layer; a sensor layer disposed on the display layerand including a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of secondelectrodes; a sensor driving circuit configured to drive the sensorlayer and to selectively operate in a first mode or a second modedifferent from the first mode; and a main driving circuit configured tocontrol an operation of the display driving circuit and an operation ofthe sensor driving circuit, wherein, in the first mode, the sensordriving circuit outputs a plurality of first transmit signals to theplurality of first electrodes respectively, receives a plurality offirst sensing signals from the plurality of second electrodesrespectively, and outputs the plurality of first sensing signals to themain driving circuit, wherein, in the second mode, the sensor drivingcircuit outputs a plurality of second transmit signals to the pluralityof first electrodes respectively, receives a plurality of second sensingsignals from the plurality of second electrodes respectively, andprovides the main driving circuit with a coordinate obtained based onthe plurality of second sensing signals, and wherein the plurality offirst transmit signals are simultaneously output to the plurality offirst electrodes.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein theplurality of first transmit signals are in phase with one another. 3.The electronic device of claim 1, wherein a driving voltage of theplurality of first transmit signals is equal to a driving voltage of theplurality of second transmit signals.
 4. The electronic device of claim1, wherein a first phase of one second transmit signal of the pluralityof second transmit signals is different from a second phase of remainingsecond transmit signals of the plurality of second transmit signals. 5.The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first mode includes afirst sub mode and a second sub mode, wherein, in the first sub mode,the sensor driving circuit outputs the plurality of first sensingsignals to the main driving circuit, and wherein, in the second submode, the sensor driving circuit outputs a plurality of third transmitsignals to the plurality of first electrodes respectively, receives aplurality of third sensing signals from the plurality of secondelectrodes respectively, and provides the main driving circuit with aproximity coordinate obtained based on the plurality of third sensingsignals.
 6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein a length of anoperating period in the first sub mode is longer than a length of anoperating period in the second sub mode.
 7. The electronic device ofclaim 5, wherein a frequency of each of the plurality of third transmitsignals is higher than a frequency of each of the plurality of firsttransmit signals.
 8. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein thesensor driving circuit operates in the first sub mode and then continuesto operate in the second sub mode or operates in the second sub mode andthen continues to operate in the first sub mode.
 9. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the main driving circuit comprises: a noisemodel trained to predict a noise included in the plurality of firstsensing signals; and a decision model configured to determine whether anobject approaches, based on the noise predicted by the noise model andthe plurality of first sensing signals.
 10. The electronic device ofclaim 9, wherein the noise model comprises: a plurality of noiseprediction models configured to respectively output a plurality of noiseprediction values; and a selector configured to select one of theplurality of noise prediction values.
 11. The electronic device of claim10, wherein each of the plurality of noise prediction models comprises:a moving window configured to receive the plurality of first sensingsignals of each of a plurality of frames; a moving averaging unitconfigured to calculate a moving average of the plurality of firstsensing signals of each of the plurality of frames and to output anintermediate signal; and a noise predictor configured to output a noiseprediction value by using the intermediate signal and a trainedalgorithm.
 12. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the displaylayer includes a base layer, a circuit layer disposed on the base layer,a light emitting device layer disposed on the circuit layer, and anencapsulation layer disposed on the light emitting device layer, andwherein the sensor layer is directly disposed on the display layer. 13.An electronic device comprising: a sensor layer including a plurality offirst electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes; a sensor drivingcircuit configured to drive the sensor layer and to selectively operatein a proximity sensing mode or a touch sensing mode; and a main drivingcircuit configured to control an operation of the sensor drivingcircuit, wherein, in the proximity sensing mode, the sensor drivingcircuit outputs all of a plurality of first sensing signals receivedfrom the plurality of second electrodes to the main driving circuit, andwherein, in the touch sensing mode, the sensor driving circuitcalculates input coordinates based on a plurality of second sensingsignals received from the plurality of second electrodes and outputs acoordinate signal including information about the input coordinates tothe main driving circuit.
 14. The electronic device of claim 13, whereinthe main driving circuit comprises: a noise model trained to predict anoise included in the plurality of first sensing signals; and a decisionmodel configured to determine whether an object approaches, based on thenoise predicted by the noise model and the plurality of first sensingsignals.
 15. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein, in theproximity sensing mode, the sensor driving circuit simultaneouslyoutputs a plurality of first transmit signals to the plurality of firstelectrodes respectively and receives the plurality of first sensingsignals from the plurality of second electrodes respectively, andwherein the plurality of first transmit signals are in phase with oneanother.
 16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein, in the touchsensing mode, the sensor driving circuit simultaneously outputs aplurality of second transmit signals to the plurality of firstelectrodes respectively and receives the plurality of second sensingsignals from the plurality of second electrodes respectively, andwherein a first phase of one second transmit signal of the plurality ofsecond transmit signals is different from a second phase of theremaining second transmit signals.
 17. The electronic device of claim16, wherein a driving voltage of the plurality of first transmit signalsis equal to a driving voltage of the plurality of second transmitsignals.
 18. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the sensordriving circuit is configured to selectively operate in one of theproximity sensing mode, the touch sensing mode, or a proximitycoordinate sensing mode, and wherein the sensor driving circuit operatesin the proximity sensing mode and then continues to operate in theproximity coordinate sensing mode or operates in the proximitycoordinate sensing mode and then continues to operate in the proximitysensing mode.
 19. The electronic device of claim 18, wherein, in theproximity coordinate sensing mode, the sensor driving circuit outputs aplurality of third transmit signals to the plurality of first electrodesrespectively, receives a plurality of third sensing signals from theplurality of second electrodes respectively, and provides the maindriving circuit with a proximity coordinate signal obtained based on theplurality of third sensing signals.
 20. The electronic device of claim19, wherein a length of an operating period in the proximity sensingmode is longer than a length of an operating period in the proximitycoordinate sensing mode, and a frequency of each of the plurality ofthird transmit signals is higher than a frequency of each of theplurality of first transmit signals.